Buy Or Sell:Can Durant reach Lebron's level

Durantist · Post #1 » by **Durantist** » Wed Aug 5, 2009 5:15 am

http://www.vtap.com/video/Buy+Or+Sell+F ... nRzfmluOjU

lim206 · Post #2 » by **lim206** » Wed Aug 5, 2009 6:06 am

i think durant will be talked about alot in years to comee.. he will be unstopppable

Post #3 » by **wizkid27** » Wed Aug 5, 2009 1:09 pm

Not a big fan of LeBron, and I'd love to say BUY. But I just can't... Durant could soon be a better scorer than LeBron, maybe with the improvements he's made this offseason he already is. But when it comes to ball-handling, defense, passing, etc. he's FAR behind... really far behind. I don't think that Durant will ever be as good as LeBron, and I'm really not sure how much of a chance he even has. They're on equal footing as far as scoring with the ball and Durant has the edge on moving without the ball, IMO. Other than that, Durant has a significant disadvantage in every area outside of maybe rebounding (maybe).

Post #4 » by **slick_watts** » Wed Aug 5, 2009 2:35 pm

Sell. This comparison is ridiculous. I'm as big a Kevin Durant homer as anyone but he doesn't have the tools of Lebron James (who does?). KD is obviously a better shooter. Lebron's way ahead at everything else, though. I think KD can improve defensively like Lebron has and maybe even reach Lebron's level.

He just doesn't have the playmaking ability and handle. That's what really sets James apart.

MattBoner · Post #5 » by **MattBoner** » Wed Aug 5, 2009 4:33 pm

Durant's career will be very similar to Ray Allen's IMO

diogo_pt · Post #6 » by **diogo_pt** » Wed Aug 5, 2009 6:00 pm

he will not be on LeBron level, but he will be the 2nd best player of the league in 2/3 years

Clangus · Post #7 » by **Clangus** » Thu Aug 6, 2009 1:28 am

Depends on what you are talking about. If you consider winning being a good player , he could equal or surpass Lebron in the future. If you talking about rebounding and passing, then he could easily match LBJ in the rebounding dept soon, he certainly has the skills. Defense, in 2 years I tihnk he'll be a better defender than LeBron. The only thing I can't see him matching is passing. He is a better passer than given credit for. On drive and kicks he has never had a decent shooter around him to finish, and on drop offs down low, he's been giving it to undersized C's and PF's that aren't strong finishers.

Does that mean he's not as good? I cant say. But I do think its going to be a good debate in 2 years time!

Clangus · Post #8 » by **Clangus** » Thu Aug 6, 2009 1:33 am

MattBoner wrote:Durant's career will be very similar to Ray Allen's IMO

surely you jest

Post #9 » by **slick_watts** » Thu Aug 6, 2009 6:25 am

Ray Allen's a Hall of Famer in my book, especially if he breaks the 3pt record, there'd be no shame in Kevin Durant having a career like that.

That said, KD's second year was arguably better than any of Ray Allen's, and Ray was still at UConn at that age.

Clangus · Post #10 » by **Clangus** » Thu Aug 6, 2009 6:57 am

slick_watts wrote:Ray Allen's a Hall of Famer in my book, especially if he breaks the 3pt record, there'd be no shame in Kevin Durant having a career like that.

That said, KD's second year was arguably better than any of Ray Allen's, and Ray was still at UConn at that age.

Oh I'm not knocking ray. Ray is one of my alltime faves. Has had a tremendous career and a is great player. A classy guy too. But KD is one of those once in a generation talents.

TheOGJabroni · Post #11 » by **TheOGJabroni** » Thu Aug 6, 2009 3:09 pm

You know what, the Ray Allen comparison is kind of interesting. He has more of a post game. But other than that, its not a bad comparison. I've see a comparison of a 6'10" Jamal Crawford LOL, a 6'10" Ray Allen is much more frightening. And with a little bit of a post game mixed in, sounds right to me.

Post #12 » by **slick_watts** » Thu Aug 6, 2009 4:30 pm

The thing is that Durant shot better from the field (and 3pt range) last year than Ray Allen ever did in his career I believe.

wiff · Post #13 » by **wiff** » Fri Aug 7, 2009 2:23 am

I'll buy it.

They asked if Durant would reach LeBron’s "level"

They didn't ask if Durant would be a good all around player like LeBron.

Durant will never be the play maker LeBron is. Durant is a decent passer but LeBron is exceptional.

But that doesn't mean Durant can't be better than LeBron in other categories.

I think Durant will have a handful of scoring titles and he should be able to out rebound LeBron if he plays PF.

Also knowing that Durant is always working to get better I see his defense coming around.

Last year at 24 LeBron averaged
28.4pts
7.6reb
7.2asts
1.7stl
1.1blks

So what if in 4 years Durant averaged?
33pts
9rebs
4asts
1.5stls
1blks

Who is the better player? Or are they both on a comparable level?

Durant will never be the all around player that LeBron is but he could be better than him in a couple key categories to make up for the discrepancy in playmaking.

Post #14 » by **wizkid27** » Fri Aug 7, 2009 3:33 am

I could see it being similar to the McGrady vs Kobe debates of ~5 years ago. Durant being T-Mac and LeBron being Kobe. LeBron just is and will be the better player (as much as I like Durant and don't really care for LeBron), but Durant has aspects of his game that have large advantages over LeBron. I really don't think that Durant will ever win a "who is a better player debate", but hopefully he can win the "who won more championships" debate

Post #15 » by **slick_watts** » Fri Aug 7, 2009 2:21 pm

wiff wrote:I'll buy it.

They asked if Durant would reach LeBron’s "level"

They didn't ask if Durant would be a good all around player like LeBron.

Durant will never be the play maker LeBron is. Durant is a decent passer but LeBron is exceptional.

But that doesn't mean Durant can't be better than LeBron in other categories.

I think Durant will have a handful of scoring titles and he should be able to out rebound LeBron if he plays PF.

Also knowing that Durant is always working to get better I see his defense coming around.

Last year at 24 LeBron averaged
28.4pts
7.6reb
7.2asts
1.7stl
1.1blks

So what if in 4 years Durant averaged?
33pts
9rebs
4asts
1.5stls
1blks

Who is the better player? Or are they both on a comparable level?

Durant will never be the all around player that LeBron is but he could be better than him in a couple key categories to make up for the discrepancy in playmaking.

33/9 is pretty outrageous and I'm a huge Durant homer. Nobody's put up 33/9 since 1975.

Besides, for KD to be scoring 30+ PPG it probably means the team is bad. He'd have to be taking a lot of shots, since it's unlikely his offensive efficiency will be much greater than it is currently, he's a perimeter player after all.

Rebounding, 9 is a lot. If he does end up playing PF, yeah he might get there, but it'd require a fairly huge jump in rebounding rate for him to do that. It might be possible down the road, but it's a pretty big 'if' IMO.

I think KD has a few 28/7 seasons in him which in and of itself is pretty rare, Robinson, Ewing, Shaq, Lebron, Malone are the only guys to do that in the last 20 years.

wiff · Post #16 » by **wiff** » Fri Aug 7, 2009 2:40 pm

Personally I think it is a little silly to try to put a ceiling on Durant.

The kid is still only 20 and a rare talent.

Considering his age and frame, 4 years is a long time to produce results in the weight room.

I think the kid is good enough and works hard enough that he could pretty much do anything he wanted in the league.

So what someone hasn't averaged 33pts and 9rebs since 1975 it doesn't mean it can't be done.

wiff · Post #17 » by **wiff** » Sun Aug 9, 2009 4:19 am

I just wanted to add one more little bit here.

Durant had 10 games last season of 30pts+ and 8+rebs.

4 years time is such a huge divide at Kevin's age compared to LeBron.

Let us not forget that Michael Jordan went from
28.2pts and shooting .173% from 3 land his first year, to 37.1pts and a whopping .182% from 3 land his third year.

See even Jordan has a chink in the armor.

Post #18 » by **slick_watts** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 12:03 am

There's a vey in depth fantasy oriented preview for the Thunder located right here.

He's real high on Durant and makes some really wild predictions about his production and fantasy value next year, going so far as to claim that he might be more valuable (fantasy wise, but still) than Lebron. Not sure I buy it, but it's interesting.

Post #19 » by **wizkid27** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 2:43 am

Speaking strictly fantasy wise, I could see that, with the great percentages from the line and all of the 3's he's sure to hit, he may more than make up for LeBron's decided assist advantage.

pr0wler · Post #20 » by **pr0wler** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 9:31 am

As early as next season, you could argue that Kevin Durant is the best scorer in the league. He is a ridiculously good shooter and as he continues to gain a little bit of muscle and experience he gets better and better. His FG%, 3PT%, and FT% are insanely good, pretty scary for a 20 year old guy going into his 3rd season. He is an absolute scoring machine.

But in terms of rebounding, passing, defense etc. he is not at the level of Kobe or LeBron. I like the McGrady comparisons because in terms of scoring in their primes, McGrady was arguably better than Kobe. However, in pretty much every other facet Bryant was better. The same thing can be said when talking about Durant in regards to being the best player in the league. He will be a better scorer than LeBron, but not a better player.